Volcano Sinabung, Sumatra

Gunung Sinabung is a Pleistocene-to-Holocene stratovolcano with many lava flows on its flanks. The migration of
summit vints along a N-S line gives the summit crater compleex an elongated form. The youngest crater of this
conical andesitic-to-dacitic volcano is at the southern end of the four overlapping summit craters. Sonfateric activity
was seen at the summit and upper lanks of Sinabung in 1912, although no historical eruptions have been recorded.

Wednesday, September 8th, 2010

Electricity in seven villages in Karo regency, has been cut off following the latest eruption of Sinabung early Tuesday.
The local state power company suspected the connection had been disrupted by ash and rain after the eruption,
probaly a shor circuiting. The following villages are without electricity now: Berastepu, Tiga Serangkai, Parbesi,
Laukawar, Suka Nalu, Gamber and Kuta Tengah.

Since the eruption of Sinabung in Karo regency last week, 7,000 children under 18 have been living in shelters.
They have started to show signs of distress due the extreme change in their environment while staying at the shelters.
The health of the refugees in the shelters has been worsening even while relief aid continues to arrive.

The Karo Health Agency reported that 100 people at the shelters, mostly young children or older adults, were sick
from ailments such as respiratory infections, diarrhea and eye irritations related to cold weather and volcanic ash.
mostly from The Jakarta Post

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

Sinabung erupted again the fourth time, Tuesday at 00:40 pm local time..
Visibility became blocked because of volcanic ash.. Dust is also accompanied by nasal stinking smell of sulfur.
Tremors made a lot of refugees running out of their shelters, making it difficult to maintain balance when they run.

Sinabung shot ash 5 km (3 miles) into the air on Tuesday, its biggest eruption since it became active last week,
and experts warned of more blasts to come. The sound from the eruption was heard from 8 kilometres away.

Heavy rain mixed with the ash to form muddy precipitation that is lying a centimetre thick on buildings and trees. Electricity in one village has been cut off, but there have so far been no new casualties.
There are still about 25.000 refugees in shelters away from the area.

Some witnesses reported seeing several hotspots at the foot of Mount Sinabung for the first time.
Local media said ash had reached as far as Berastagi,

Sunday, September 5th, 2010

More volcanic earthquakes occurred on Saturday around Mount Sinabung in Karo regency.
More than 52 quakes triggered by the eruptions had been recorded between midnight and 12 noon on Saturday. Although the volcano appeared calm, it was experiencing increasing seismographic activity after Friday’s eruptions.

The ongoing activity might cause energy to accumulate inside the volcano and it continues to spew harmful ash.
Residents living and working within a 6-kilometer radius of the active crater should evacuate.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to fly to North Sumatra on Monday morning to directly
inspect the disaster site. Many people need health treatments because of respiratory infections, diarrhea
and eye irritation. Health problems were caused by cold weather and ash coming from the mountain.

The shelters are located in open space without walls. This situation jeopardizes the refugees’ health, especially
since many of them are sleeping on thin mats with inadequate blankets.

The number of residents staying at the shelters is difficult to confirm because many people check their
on homes during the daytime and return to the shelters at night.
mostly from The Jakarta Post

Again we urge you to read: "Why do people live on volcanoes" Click here.

Friday, September 3rd, 2010
A minor eruption burst again at 5:59 p.m. (10:59 GMT) on Friday afternoon, the second in the same day after
the one erupted earlier in the morning.

The eruption was minor if compared to the one at 4:38 a.m. It was impossible to see the materials spewed from
the crater since the volcano was hardly able to be observed with thick mist around the crater.

Sinabung has erupted again! Now for the third time.
This is the biggest eruption yet, with ashcloud rising up 3.000 m in the air. Tremors, which have been
going on since yesterday, could be felt 8 kilometers away. Several hundred previous e vacuees had returned
to their homes, after the volcano calmed down earlier this wee, but have now been forced to flee again.
The eruption Friday started at around 4:45 a.m. local time (23:45 Thursday), while many people were sleeping.
They woke up to a morning covered with dust, and a visibility of just a few meters on the volcano slopes.
More to follow

Read more about this beautiful area and its people.Click here

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010
It now looks like Sinabung has calmed down, and villagers that have been evacuated, are now
on their way back to their homes. However, authorities does not know what "plans" the volcano
has for the future, whether it will get to sleep for another 400 years, or if it has even more surprises on hand.
Meanwhile, why not read about "Why People live on Volcanoes". Click here for more.

Monday, August 30th, 2010
The number of people forced to be evacuated due to the eruption of Sinabung, may rise to 34,000 according to
The National Disaster Management Agency. On Monday, more than 27,000 people have escaped their homes.

The smoke from the eruption has also disturbed the flight from western area toward main airport, Palonia,
in North Sumatra province.

Sinabung volcano spews thick smoke in Karo district in North Sumatra
(C) Sutanta Aditya/AFP/Getty Images

Sinabang re-erupted at 06:30 a. m. local time today (2330 GMT Sunday), spewing smokes up to over 2,500 meters
high. As usual when a volcano erupts in Indonesia there are warning to internation aviation about this threat.
If winds would blow to the north, it will hamper international flight, and if the wind blow direct to the east,
it will disturb domestic flight."

20,000 people have now been moved from the slopes of the volcano and surrounding areas. They are being
housed in temporary shelters after it blanketed their villages and crops in acrid smoke and dust.
People arriving at refuge centres are covered in grey ash.

Only 7.000 mask were available to the local peopler after the eruption, but authorities have told that
several thousand more are being sent immediately.

About the eruption, which is the first for 400 years, a government volcanologistg say that the problem is, thry really
have no idea what to expect. He said: "We don't know what set it off, how long it will continue or whether we
should expect pyroclastic flows."

A safer place: Villagers who flee erupting Mount Sinabung rest at a temporary shelter in Tanah Karo, North Sumatra.
(C) AP/Binsar Bakkara

The number of people evacuated climbed to 12,000 on Monday. Food, emergency tents, and medicine were
on their way to the scene. The government also has set up public kitchens for refugees and handed out more than
17,000 respiratory masks.
Updates to follow.

Sunday, August 29th, 2010
20:00 GMT : Two people died, one from breathing problems and the other from a heart attack, and two
suffered injuries in road accidents as trucks, ambulances and buses were mobilised in the rescue operation.

Residents of 32 villages in the subdistrict of Karo, which is the closest inhabited area to the volcano,
were forced to flee shortly after the eruption

09:00 GMT: The first eruption occured at. 0:02 sunday morning local time. Glowing lavaflows was visuable on the slopes of the volcdano. Another second eruption came about 09:00 GMT Sunday.

Both eruptions left dust and sulphur. A thick layer of dust has been placed all o ver the Brastagi-region. Thousands of inhabitants has fleed to Kabanjahe, the capital of the Karo-Province.